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Sara Howard
|Image= Alienist-Character-Infobox-03-Sara-Howard.jpg|Light Alienist-Official-Photoshoot-05-Sara Howard (Alternate Version).jpg|Dark |Birth= Approx. 1865 |Death= |Occupation= NYPD Secretary |Allies= Dr. Laszlo Kreizler Lucius Isaacson Marcus Isaacson Cyrus Montrose Stevie Taggert Mary Palmer |Significant Others = John Schuyler Moore (friend) |Employer= Theodore Roosevelt |Employees = Tessie (housemaid) |Enemies= Thomas Byrnes Captain Connor Sergeant Doyle Mysterious Serial Killer |Victims= Captain Connor (gunshot) |Interests= |Education= |Family= Stephen Hamilton Howard (Father; deceased) Mrs. Howard (Mother; deceased) |First appearance=''The Boy on the Bridge'' |Last appearance=''Castle in the Sky'' |Portrayer= Dakota Fanning }} Miss is a headstrong secretary at Police Headquarters who find herself involved in the investigations of some mysterious murders in 1896 New York City. Sara Howard is a major character in ‘The Alienist’ and she's portrayed by Dakota Fanning. Official Description "SARA HOWARD is the first woman hired by the New York Police Department as a secretary to Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. She sees this job as a steppingstone to becoming the first female police detective in New York City. Self-possessed and intelligent, Sara grew up as an only child who was doted on by her father. She not only "shakes hands like a man," but considers herself just as competent – if not more so – than any of the men on the force. Well-bred and well-spoken, Sara becomes the liaison between Roosevelt and Kreizler’s team and is immediately intrigued by the case being investigated by Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and John Moore. ''" [https://www.thealienist.tntdrama.com/ ''Official Overview for Dakota Fanning's Sara Howard — TNT Pressroom] Character Overview Miss Howard is a young woman in her twenties, with a candid complexion, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Her porcelain doll appearance conceals, without too much effort, a rebellious nature and willing disposition to affirm her place in a world dominated by men. At the workplace, Miss Howard is often wearing chaste and sober dresses with puffed sleeves while in social engagements she wears elegant and refined dresses that highlight the strengths of her appearance, accentuating her beauty. Miss Sara Howard is determined and headstrong and does not hesitate to put at the disposal of rightful causes her acute intelligence, attention to detail and her formidable skills in the use of firearms. Her strong temperament is also essential to overcome the constant obstacles and prejudices that she constantly faces in the workplace. Biography The following contains plot details – read at your own risk. Early Life Sara Howard lost her mother when she was very young and was raised as an only child by her father, Steven Hamilton Howard Despite Sara's father is not named in the TV series, his name is provided in Caleb Carr's novel., an old acquaintance of Theodore Roosevelt and the family of John Schuyler Moore. Mr. Howard thought that if Sara was to endeavor to live in a man's world, then it was necessary for her to learn to act like a man. And so he taught her to ride, to shoot, to live without fear of her own convictions. Sara also learned how to drink whiskey. However, it took her years to accustom herself to the taste. When she was a teenager, Sara's father committed suicide – despite the official version stating that he died in a hunting accident. Sara later confessed to Dr. Laszlo Kreizler that her father did try to commit suicide but he'd lost his courage and tried to pull the gun from his mouth. In excruciating pain when Sara find him, he guided her hand for a last deadly shot. In the aftermath of her father's death, Sara had a nervous breakdown that led her to be admitted to a sanatorium. Fully recovered, Sara pursued a groundbreaking career and attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, the first degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, where she befriended her roommate, Jane Gooding. After that, Sara entered the New York City Police Department as a secretary to Theodore Roosevelt, becoming the first woman to serve in the police department. In an unspecified time, Sara distanced herself from her friend John Moore when he used one of her portraits for the illustrations of a fashion magazine and Sara was very annoyed at having been objectified and reduced to something beautiful to look at, based on the description attached to the portrait that focused only on her look. A New Woman New York City Police Department, March 4th, 1896. Sara is introduced the day after Giorgio Santorelli's murder – revealed to have happened on March 3rd, 1896 in Hildebrandt’s Starling – when Moore and Kreizler visited Roosevelt's office. Sara Howard's work at the Police Department was repeatedly rendered unbearable by constant harassments by police men; First amongst them, Captain Connor, who more than once told her squalid sexist jokes. When John Moore and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler presented themselves for an unscheduled meeting with Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, Sara was unwilling to do favouritism but her being a woman was used both as an excuse not to obey her orders, and to oust her from the conversation about boy prostitutes' murders. Outside the department, Sara was approached by Moore who asked her to break the rules and get him a secret file on Benjamin and Sofia Zweig for Dr. Kreizler, much to Miss Howard's disappointment. However, Sara ultimately decided that the investigations needed a competent detective instead of Captain Connor and his men, and for this reason she decided to help her former friend, meeting him outside a brothel, provided she was constantly informed about any development. Interested in finding out more about the Giorgio Santorelli's murder case, especially after Captain Connor hastened to consider it a solved case, Sara sought the help of John Moore. The two went to Little Italy to converse with the Santorelli family and discovered that they were threatened by corrupt policemen and a priest to remain silent. The woman's intuition led her to seek information about previous unsolved cases with similar circumstances. That was how she discovered about Aaron Morton and an African American boy whom the police had not been able to identify. Together with Moore, Miss Howard informed Dr. Kreizler of recent discoveries, concluding that there was a serial killer at large. The alienist invited both of them to dinner at Delmonico's, where Sara met Detective Sergeants Marcus and Lucius Isaacson. The two illustrated their theories and findings, including the potential murder weapon, an Arkansas toothpick knife, and evidence that the killer had left a bloody fingerprint on an item from one of the victim. Sara participated interested in the conversation, claiming to have read in the Dactyloscopy — the science of a finger, palm, or foot leaving a chance impression. On the way back home, Miss Howard was able to talk to Dr. Kreizler and tell him that he would be suspicious of knowing she knew her. To all intents and purposes a member of the team, Sara informed the alienist about the disappearance of Giorgio Santorelli's corpse from the morgue, proposing that there was much more corruption in the department than they had previously believed. The two had a brief argument about Sara's real reasons for his involvement in the investigation. In the evening, Sara attended a reunion with former colleagues of Vassar College where guests staged a murder for fun. The evening event bored Sara tremendously, especially when her friend Jane Gooding boasted about her boyfriend, Milton, asking if Sara had finally found a man to marry. After her boring evening, there was a murder at Castle Garden. Sara and John rushed to the crime scene with Dr. Kreizler's manservant, Cyrus Montrose. Commissioner Roosevelt was able to divert public attention and gave them enough time for a quick look at the crime scene. After an initial discomfort at the sight of blood and the mutilated body of the latest victim, Sara was promptly skilled to theorize the killer's modus operandi indicating how height and water were common denominators in the murders. The team, however, was forced to interrupt their investigations when police and journalists arrived at the crime scene. Back at the Kreizler Institute, Sara and John had a heated discussion with the alienist when he used their past traumas and griefs to psychoanalyse their contribution to the investigations. The two friends left the house, and on their way home John revealed to Sara a few details about Kreizler's past. Not of the Weaker Sex Sort At the Police Department, Captain Connor delivered Moore's sketchbook to Theodore Roosevelt, making it clear that he was aware of the parallel investigation and their presence at Castle Gardens the night before. The Commissioner tasked Sara to return the sketchbook to Dr. Laszlo Kreizler. After searching for him at home, Sara met with Dr. Kreizler at the park, where the two had a conversation about the role society plays in forming – and suppressing – women. By pointing to a woman across the park. Kreizler revealed that she had drowned both her children in a tub. Sara said she felt no empathy for the woman, especially because she had killed children for no apparent reason. Before leaving, Kreizler told her that in his opinion everyone has what drives him to commit heinous crimes. It is only the right or wrong combination of events that trigger a person to perpetrate them. Later at the Police Department, Sara had a conversation with Roosevelt about Dr. Kreizler's peculiar personality and Sara learned that he had a malformed arm he always tried to compensate with his strong personality and intellect. It was here that Sara met Mrs. Santorelli, who had received a letter from the murderer. Following an invitation from Dr. Kreizler to a cabaret, Sara met the rest of the team and discovered that they had been invited there by the killer when the woman showed them the letter full of insults and macabre ramblings. At the Kreizler Institute, the team analysed the letter with the help of a graphologist and later, Miss Howard and Dr. Kreizler had a heated discussion about the possible identity and motivations of the killer. Annoyed by the despotic behaviour of the alienist, Sara left the building, pursued by John Moore. The man tried to mitigate the spirits and asked Sara to marry him. The woman laughed at what she thought was a joke. A few days later, Sara met Detectives Sergeants Lucius and Marcus Isaacson outside the Commissioner's office, with whom they had an appointment. Miss Howard seized the opportunity to ask the two men for clarification on homosexuality and why the murderer was targeting boy prostitutes. Discovered that the mysterious murderer killed his victims during the holy days of the Christian calendar, the team decided to set up a trap. Sara took care of dressing Stevie Taggert, one of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler's servants, as a prostitute and was intransigent about her participation in the mission when Lucius Isaacson tried to oust her, saying it was not a matter for the “weaker sex”. In the meantime, Sara had discovered details of Kreizler's childhood as an enfant prodige of the piano, which contradicted his story about being born with a deformed arm. Sara shared this discovery with John. After an initial failure during the night of Ascension Day, the group again tried to set a trap for the killer by using Stevie again as bait on The Slide brothel. While Marcus and John were inside the brothel, and Cyrus and Lucius were posted on the roof, Sara and Dr. Kreizler waited in a carriage. Sara tried to provoke the alienist about the real reason of his disability, coming immediately to a heated argument that ended when Laszlo slapped her. Sara had no way to reply because the attention was immediately recalled by the killer who, after creating a diversion for the team, managed to kidnap one of the brothel's boy prostitutes. Trying to overcome the sense of defeat and guilt towards the latest victim, young Rosie, the team lead by Dr. Laszlo Kreizler tried to put together all the information they had in search of details that could have been missed. So it was that Sara, Marcus and Lucius spent whole days at the Kreizler Institute reading and studying documents, articles and files in search of previous crimes that could have been committed by the same man. Sara also sought comfort from John, and revealed him what happened with Kreizler during the night of the ambush, and of the slap received by Laszlo. Closer to the Darkness After John Moore and Dr. Kreizler found a track on a potential suspect, Sara was assigned the task of going to New Paltz to gather information in the man's birthplace. There she met Eliza, a young woman sent to guide her whilst investigating in town. This is how Sara came to discover the sad past of Japheth Dury. As a child he had been abused by both parents. The father was a preacher prone to sermons on damnation and violence, often showing people photographs of bodies mutilated by the natives. Japheth disappeared when Mr. Dury and his wife were savagely killed, and the local people blamed a Native American tribe, accusing them of kidnapping the boy as well. This story was confirmed by Sheriff Early. Together with Sheriff Early, the two women visited the former Dury home, now reduced to a crumbling ruin. There Sara found a tin box buried under the rubble. Inside there were animal bones. On the way back, Eliza warned Sara of believing the things the sheriff had told her and told her that a friend of Japheth, George Beecham, was found dead shortly after. She believed that Japheth wasn't kidnapped but that he had killed both of his parents and his friend. While the team was scattered in various cities to follow important avenues of their investigation, Connor and Sergeant Doyle had broken into Dr. Kreizler's home with the intention of making him desist from the investigation. Since the alienist was not there, the two men had assaulted the servants and Mary Palmer, Kreizler's housemaid was brutally killed. At the funeral, Sara offered her sincere condolences to the doctor despite their past quarrel and misunderstanding. With Kreizler out of the team, Sara took the lead and moved the headquarters to 808-Broadway, a former tavern seized by the police. From there, the remaining members of the group continued their investigations. By adding to the previous information those recently acquired on their suspect, Corporal John Beecham, they were, therefore, able to narrow down the inquiry. The man had worked as an enumerator for the City Council and Sara and the team visited his former address, where they found decomposed cats buried underneath the floor of his rented room. Outside the new headquarters, Sara had a confrontation with Connor. The man threatened her to desist from the investigation, reaching the point of alluding her ending up raped in a dark alley. Miss Howard was not intimidated, and continued to lead the parallel investigation by continuing to report to Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt any progression they made. The group then found the new address of Beecham where they discovered a room even more macabre and disturbing than the previous house. Organs preserved in jars, others partially devoured. Photographs of mutilated corpses — most likely the ones his father had used to scare him when he was a child — and a calcified heart preserved in a heart-shaped box, which Lucius Isaacson deduced to be Beecham's mother's. While the team made sure that john Beecham's apartment was inaccessible to him, the man struck again. This time he not only killed yet another boy prostitute, Maxie, at the Bath House, but also kidnapped Joseph, a boy prostitute John had befriended during the investigations. At the headquarters, Sara tired to comfort him in an attempt to relieve him from his gripping guilt about Joseph's fate. Moore, however, mistook her intentions and kissed her causing Sara to step back. When Dr. Kreizler rejoined the team, Sara briefed him of their successful recent discoveries and the two shared painful events from their past. Sara revealed that she had assisted her father in his suicide after an initial failed attempt that had blown off half his face, and Laszlo that he had been beaten by his father when he was a child, thus causing his arm impairment. The showdown came to an end and Miss Howard and the Isaacson brothers tried to set a trap for Beecham, supported by Roosevelt and the police force. Unfortunately, the man was somewhere else and was intercepted by Dr. Kreizler and Moore with the help of gangster Paul Kelly. When Sara became aware of their mistake, she joined Kreizler qns Moore just in time to prevent Connor from killing her friends. Sara killed Connor in cold blood, but the captain had already killed John Beecham, forever destroying Kreizler's hopes of psychoanalyse and, perhaps, helping him. The team celebrated the success of the investigation and the capture of the serial killer at Delmonico's, where John and Sara again contemplated the feelings they felt for each other before they each returned to their respective houses. Memorable Quotes :Sara Howard (clarifying her role to John Moore): "I am Miss Howard, an employee of the New York Police Department. You will please accord me the respect that my position demands." :Dr. Kreizler: "Perhaps Miss Howard can help arrange an impromptu meeting with the commissioner? ''" :'Sara Howard:' "''And how should I help do that? With my "especially rosy mouth" or my "sparkling blue eyes"?" :Sara Howard (replying to sexual harassment): "Funny, Captain Connor. I see only a little pink mouse." :John Moore: "This is an unsavory neighborhood for a young lady." :Sara Howard: "I'm not here on savory business, and every panderer, mawk, lush, and billy noodle in the city pass through the doors of the police department, not to mention the mutton shunters that I work with. So please don't concern yourself with my blushes." : — The Boy on the Bridge ---- :Sara Howard (to John Moore): "When it comes to the commissioner, I find it sometimes better to ask forgiveness rather than permission." :Sara Howard (to Tessie, her maid): "I'll not wear an evening dress as I have no need to flatter myself." :John Moore: "Gentlemen! There is a lady present!" :Sara Howard: "Oh, enough, John! I am perfectly capable of hearing whatever it is that needs to be said." :Dr. Laszlo Kreizler: "May I assume you have an interest?" :Sara Howard: "It wouldn't be fair to assume anything about me, Doctor." :— A Fruitful Partnership ---- :Sara Howard (to Dr. Kreizler): "The truth is, I prefer whiskey." :— Hildebrandt’s Starling ---- :Sara Howard (to John Moore): "Given certain circumstances, we're all capable of violence." :— Many Sainted Men ---- Gallery |-|The Alienist = |-|The Angel of Darkness = Notes * Sara Howard, the secretary played by Ms. Fanning, has been broadened into a fuller portrait of a young woman trying to be tough enough to thrive in a man's world without losing her femininity and sexuality, Ms. Fanning said: “''As women, I think that's something we all deal with and especially right now, it's being talked about a lot'',” she added, alluding to the ongoing national reckoning with toxic male behavior. [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/arts/television/alienist-tnt-caleb-carr.html How ‘The Alienist’ Finally Found a Screen] * The original, and slightly different draft for Sara Howard's description read as follow: "The primly dressed but beautiful Sara Howard is the first woman hired by the New York Police Department and she is determined to become the first female police detective in New York City. Self-possessed and intelligent, Sarah grew up as an only child who was doted on by her father. She not only "shakes hands like a man," but considers herself just as competent – if not more so – than any of the men on the force. Well-bred and well-spoken, Sara has a keen interest in crime-solving and is immediately intrigued by the case being investigated by Kreizler and Moore." [https://www.turner.com/pressroom/united-states/tnt/alienist/dakota-fanning-joins-tnts-alienist Alternate Character Overview for Dakota Fanning's Sara Howard — TNT Pressroom] Trivia * Sara Howard is inspired by two historical figures. 'The New York Times, “Overlooked No More: Isabella Goodwin, New York City’s First Female Police Detective”.' ** In 1895, the first woman to work at Police Headquarters, Minnie Gertrude Kelly, was appointed Secretary to the Police Board. ** In 1912, Isabella Goodwin was appointed as the first female, first grade detective. Goodwin was hired by Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. Much like Sara, Goodwin used to conduct private investigations. Episode Appearance The Alienist * Ep. 1:The Boy on the Bridge * Ep. 2: A Fruitful Partnership * Ep. 3: Silver Smile * Ep. 4: These Bloody Thoughts * Ep. 5: Hildebrandt’s Starling * Ep. 6: Ascension * Ep. 7: Many Sainted Men * Ep. 8: Psychopathia Sexualis * Ep. 9: Requiem * Ep. 10: Castle in the Sky References Category:Main Character Category:Female Character Category:NYPD Members Category:Main Character (The Alienist)